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      Installing Alcatraz Proxy Service

      How to run the Windows installer for Alcatraz Proxy Service which connects on-premises Access Control Systems with Alcatraz Admin Portal

      Alcatraz Proxy Service allows you to open a connection between Alcatraz Admin Portal and your Access Control System (ACS) when the two are running in separate networks. It is designed to run in a network with direct visibility to the ACS, typically on-premises or even on the same machine.
      Installing Alcatraz Proxy Service it is required in the following cases:
      • You are an Alcatraz Enterprise Cloud user.
      • You are running Alcatraz Admin Portal on-premises but its network and the network where your ACS is running do not have direct visibility to each other.

      Prerequisites

      Alcatraz Proxy Service installs on Microsoft Windows Server. It requires one of the following Microsoft Windows Server versions:
      • Windows Server 2019
      • Windows Server 2022

      To minimize communication delays between your ACS server and Alcatraz Proxy Service, we recommend installing Alcatraz Proxy Service on the same machine as the ACS server that it will be communicating with. Alcatraz Proxy Service is not expected to add any noticeable load on the machine.

      Getting Alcatraz Proxy Service

      Contact Alcatraz Support to obtain the installer for Alcatraz Proxy Service.

      Installing Alcatraz Proxy Service

      Take these steps to install Alcatraz Proxy Service:

      1. In the Alcatraz Admin Portal, download a unique certificate in PEM format:
        1. In the left menu, go to Accounts > Account Settings.
        2. Under Account Configuration, expand ACS Integration.
        3. Click Enable ACS Integration if you haven't done so already and in ACS Integration select the ACS that you run.
        4. In the ACS configuration form, check Use Proxy.
        5. Under Certificate in PEM format, click Download and store the PEM file on your computer to use later.
      2. Copy the certificate to the Windows Server machine where the Alcatraz Proxy Service will be installed.
        For this example, the certificate was placed in the C:\Program Files\Certificate directory.
      3. Run the Alcatraz Proxy installation file 'as an administrator'.
      4. Configure the following directory items and click Next:
        1. Installation Directory:  C:\Program Files\Alcatraz AI\Proxy (default)
        2. Data Directory:  C:\ProgramData\Alcatraz AI\Proxy (default)
        3. Certificate Directory:  C:\Program Files\Certificate (default)
        4. Certificate Name:  "acs_public_certs.pem" (default)
      5. Click Next on the "Certificate Settings" screen.
      6. Enter the hostname or IP address and the port number (3033) that the ACS Integration service will use to connect to the Alcatraz Platform. For example, "acs.us.alcatraz.ai:3033".
      7. Click Next to complete the installation.